Rakib was unlucky in the 34th minute when his shot from Jamal Bhuiyan’s cross hit the bar. But Maldives got the equalizer just two minutes later when Ibrahim headed the ball towards the goal from a Hamza corner.
Bangladesh regained their lead in the first minute after the break. Saad overlapped from the left to fire a powerful shot. The Maldives goalkeeper made a save but the rebound went to Faheem who made no mistake in putting the ball into the goal.
Sohail Rana received his second yellow card of the match as he made a hard tackle on the hour mark, leaving Maldives with a numerical advantage.
The hosts launched a flurry of attacks but Bangladesh countered them well. The Bangladesh coach fielded an extra defender to form a five-man defence, and he remained consistent with the sentiment.
But his game was not limited to defense only. They often tried to get forward and some of Jonny’s crosses from right to left winger were impressive. During one such attack, a Maldives defender fouled the last man and received a straight yellow card in the 93rd minute.
Bangladesh could not convert the free kick from a dangerous position into a goal but their hard-earned victory kept their morale high.
Bangladesh will face Australia in Melbourne on November 17 for their first qualifying match.